It was the best month for Atlantic City's newest casino. Revel broke the $20 million mark in casino revenues in August.

Revel
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The other 12 casinos saw a 13 percent increase over last year, collectively.

"Atlantic City is not out of the woods just yet...but I do think its a positive sign that casino revenue is no longer declining" said Roger Gros of Global Gaming Business Magazine.

The city's casinos took in nearly $314 million from gamblers in August, marking just the second monthly increase in four years.

But no one was popping champagne corks just yet: The comparison was to August 2011 when Hurricane Irene forced the casinos to close for three days, causing an estimated $45 million worth of lost business during what would have been one of the busiest weekends of the year.

On the positive side, he said the message that AC is trying to send the rest of the nation, that the city is more than just a gaming destination is finally starting to sink in.

"If they can be successful with that message and continue, I think Atlantic City can be a premiere East Coast destination" said Gros.

Atlantic City has been focusing intently on money earned from non-gambling sources in recent years, and statistics compiled by the resort's Convention and Visitors Authority showed several encouraging indicators, many of which also benefited from a comparison with a storm-shortened August last year.

More than 19,500 visitors stopped for information, directions or reservations at visitor centers on the Boardwalk and the Atlantic City Expressway last month, a 24 percent increase. For the year, such visits are up 10 percent over the first eight months of 2011.

Sixteen conventions or trade shows were held in Atlantic City last month, compared with six a year ago, the convention authority reported. They attracted nearly 5,000 attendees, who used more than 7,100 hotel rooms and generated more than $2.4 million in spending.

"There is still a lot of people coming to the city, and they're doing a lot of other things than gambling...they are going to the beach, shopping, going to a show, and that's what we like to see in Atlantic City these days, it will interesting to see how they fare the remainder of the year" said Gros.

(Associated Press contributed to this report)

 

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